Son's death turns Scranton mom into fierce advocate

When Eileen Miller saw the state troopers walking up to her Scranton doorstep one year ago today, she knew exactly why they were there: Something bad had happened to her son Paul Miller, 21. "I started screaming, 'Not Paul! Not Paul!'" she said. "I just had a feeling. I woke up that morning feeling uneasy and I didn't know why."

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By MICHAEL SADOWSKI

poconorecord.com

By MICHAEL SADOWSKI

Posted Jul. 5, 2011 at 12:01 AM

By MICHAEL SADOWSKI

Posted Jul. 5, 2011 at 12:01 AM

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SCHOLARSHIP

There is a scholarship fund at Lackawanna College in Scranton in memory of Paul Miller, who died last year in a crash on Route 33 in Saylorsburg. Checks can be sent to Lackawanna College/Paul Mille...

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SCHOLARSHIP

There is a scholarship fund at Lackawanna College in Scranton in memory of Paul Miller, who died last year in a crash on Route 33 in Saylorsburg. Checks can be sent to Lackawanna College/Paul Miller Scholarship, c/o Advancement Office, 501 Vine St., Scranton, PA 18509.

When Eileen Miller saw the state troopers walking up to her Scranton doorstep one year ago today, she knew exactly why they were there: Something bad had happened to her son Paul Miller, 21.

"I started screaming, 'Not Paul! Not Paul!'" she said. "I just had a feeling. I woke up that morning feeling uneasy and I didn't know why."

Unfortunately, she was right. Her son had been killed on Route 33 near the Saylorsburg exit early that morning in a horrific crash involving 14 people and three vehicles.

Her son, a student at East Stroudsburg University, was the only one who died in the crash. A tractor-trailer driving south on Route 33 veered over the median and into the northbound lane, hitting Miller's car head-on.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jaswinder Singh of New Jersey, was cited for careless driving. A dozen people in a van involved in the crash weren't seriously hurt.

"You can't even imagine what a terrible, horrible thing it is to lose your son like that, and what it does to a family," she said of her husband, Paul Sr., and 21-year-old daughter, Nicole. "It's something that changes you forever."

Now Miller is determined to make sure her son's death changes the attitude of drivers and lawmakers. She's spent the last year advocating for driver safety both locally and statewide, trying to rally support for tougher laws against distracted driving, including using cell phones for texting or calling.

She's been a fixture at the local Safe80 Task Force meetings, has been calling and meeting state legislators daily and been trying to put together an educational program to tour local schools.

It's not an easy climb. Miller said she feels like she's often "bashing her head against a wall" trying to get people to listen to what a severe problem distracted driving is.

Her first goal is to create an educational program to tour driver education classes at schools. Second, she wants a "No texting while driving" law passed.

Now.

"It just doesn't make sense, why there hasn't been a law passed against texting while driving," she said. "No sense."

She's also trying to change distracted driving to a more serious offense if it results in a death.

"Distracted driving is anything that takes your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel or your mind off what you should be doing," she said.

She said state Rep. Mario Scavello has been receptive and is a proponent for enacting a no-texting-while-driving law, but other legislators and organizations haven't been.

The roadblocks aren't stopping her, however.

"Until I stop breathing, I won't stop fighting for these things," she said.